Materia Medica Malaysiana

Sabah MMA: Tackle root cause of exodus

Kota Kinabalu: The root cause of doctors leaving public service is linked to better pay and working conditions and the Government should seek a comprehensive solution to the problem.

Failure to do so would leave the perennial problem of shortage of doctors in government hospitals unsolved, said new Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) Sabah branch Chairperson Dr Melinda Tong Mui Leng.

She said despite many proposals, some of which had been implemented, the fundamental reason had yet to be adequately addressed.

Other steps taken by the Government include employing foreign doctors and local specialists on contract. Others in the midst of implementation were opening private wings in selected hospitals, training more medical students and deploying hospital administrators in clinical work.

“However, the fundamental reason why doctors are leaving public service has yet to be adequately addressed. It will be fair to say that they are seeking better pay and working conditions.

“They are not asking for parity with the private sector,” said Dr Tong said at the MMA Sabah Branch 21st Installation and Annual Dinner at Albatross Hall, Sabah Golf and Country Club, near here, Saturday. She replaced Dr K.S Sarvananthan.

She said so much resources and time were spent on training a single doctor that it would not be unreasonable to expect some return in keeping with what has been expended.

“If society wants to continue to entrust healthcare to the hands of its brightest then it must make it worth their while. Otherwise we will lose our best to greener pastures,” she said.

Dr Tong commended the national MMA Section Concerning House Officers, Medical Officers and Specialists (Schomos), which had been untiring in its efforts to improve the lot of government doctors.

She also congratulated the State MMA Schomos, under the leadership of Dr Mohd Hatta Tarmizi, for receiving the Best State Recognition Award at the recent MMA AGM for services rendered to government doctors in Sabah.

On another note, she said with a new Prime Minister and a new Health Minister, the general mood in the country had so far been one of hopeful, expectancy and buoyancy.

“Our doctors have been able to get their work passes processed without much problem, thanks to efficiency of the Immigration staff,” she said.

Outgoing Chairman Dr Sarvananthan earlier expressed gratitude to the State Government to the quicker and less-hassle processing of work pass for doctors serving in Sabah.

Meanwhile, Dr Tong said MMA Sabah hoped to expand its Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme beyond the main town hubs in the state to smaller towns such as Keningau, Kudat, Lahad Datu and Labuan.

“I would like to encourage fellow colleagues working in smaller towns to participate in the existing CME programme held in the district hospitals by visiting specialists,” she said.

Dr Tong also proposed medical officers in government hospitals to take up the challenge in coordinating the CME activities in their respective districts.

At the same time, MMA would continue to encourage drug companies to include the smaller towns whenever they organise CME programme